Happy Birthday (Album)
Production Callie Hunter's fifth studio album, 2nd major label album, "Happy Birthday", began production in November 2013. The album is a quick follow-up to Hunter's mainstream debut "Daydreaming " album. Starting in Paris, France, Callie wrote 3 songs with Lukas Allard, one of which titled "Marilyn" as mentioned via Twitter. After leaving Paris to embark on her second tour, she started working with Lukas Allard in Starlight Shores at SMI Studio Recordings Building. In December while on tour, Callie Hunter stopped in her hometown Sunset Valley from Dec 22nd, 2013 - Dec 26th, 2013, to work at home on her album. She worked with her old friend Colin Dyson in his at home studio over her tour break, making songs for herself and other artist. After Hunter's performance at the 2013-2014 New Year's Eve Party in Bridgeport, she was interviewed about her album's plans. She said that she had wanted to go back to Sunset Valley and work in a professional environment. She thought that if she is in her home town, she will be able to "strip down" her sound and make a more honest album. Up to the beginning of 2014, Callie had created a mix of ballads and light pop songs. On January 10th, 2014, Callie Hunter was officially resigned to Broadway Records (now Broadway Music Group) after their financial struggles ended. This album and it's work were then transferred to Broadway ownership, while Callie was working on the album in Sunset Valley. After many days in the studio, Callie's lead producer, Lukas Allard (Allard Productions), announced that over the course of 24 days, they had written, recorded, and re-mixed 8 songs, then there were songs from December. It was predicted that with this quick production, the album would be ready for summer 2014. On February 1st, 2014, Hunter uploaded a 15 second video of her singing a new song at an open mic in Bridgeport. The song was given the title Stars In Your Heart but Callie tweeted that it "may or may not be a new song". The following day after releasing her fragrance, Callie was spotted leaving a studio in Bridgeport, then later rock singer Charlie Rocke left the same studio. This sparked rumors that they had been collaborating, as both have albums in production. It was confirmed at a press conference that the two artist did not collaborate for the new album, but did make a song which will remain unreleased. Callie later said she hated the album's production because her label pressured her to work quickly, resulting in a generic pop sound. She thought the album was messy and had no set sound or theme, from pop rock to disco to R&B. She also said she appreciates the era because she was able to get away from her "doo-wop, girly image." Promotion Callie released a duet with singer and rapper Alex James titled "Up Out My Face " featuring Callie Hunter. It was serviced as a hip-hop/rap single. It debuted at number 88 on the Sims Billboard 100. The song did not receive any more promotion after Hunter and James had a falling out after James refused to perform the song. Callie Hunter announced the lead single and the album through a surprise performance of the single "Teenage Dream " which generated a large amount of buzz. The single debuted at #1 on the Sims Billboard Top 100 chart. Along with this, the album titles was announced on March 26th, 2014 via Callie's twitter account. Hunter released yet another surprise single on March 29, 2014 titled "Lovin It". To promote the album, Callie embarked on a radio tour to answer questions about the album itself. She then launched the "#10HappyBirthdays" Campaign (including the radio tour) on Twitter to introduce the album and create hype. Track List The official track list was released via Twitter on April 17th, 2014. It features 11 songs total, including "Teenage Dream" and "Lovin' it" and the title track. No information has been given yet about the unknown songs. Singles Teenage Dream - The song "Teenage Dream" is the lead single from the unnamed album, debuting at the SIMMYs awards March 1st, 2014. Celebrities attending the show bought the song on their phones which became the main link of outer demographic advertisement. People from producers to punk rock stars said they purchased the song from their phones during the award show. It became the first song in 10 years to debut atop the TOP 100 chart, and also is the 6th song in history to do so. It is also Callie's first #1 song and is her second top 2 Pop Contemporary song. Lovin' It - The second single from the Happy Birthday ''album was released March 29th, 2014 via Hunter's twitter and was serviced to radio April 1st. it was predicted to have a slow climb up the charts. To promote the single, as Callie is touring radio stations she will conclude the interviews with the DJ/s playing the single, then adding it to their line-up. ''Happy Birthday - Callie Hunter tweeted a pixleated picture for the future third single which was, on May 1st, released. It was be pushed to Contemporary Radio. Problem - Released on April 27th, 2014, the song became Hunter's fastest selling song with 102,000 downloads in the first two days. It debuted at #4 in the US and in the top 20 around the world. It is Callie's third Top Ten debut. Charting Performance The "Happy Birthday" album charted internationally, in the US, UK, France, and more. It debuted at #1 on the Sims Billboard 200 chart with 113,000 in sales, out-selling chart contender Eric Pressley who held the Top 100 #1 spot during his album's release with his song "Love Is". It became Callie's first top 3 album in the UK and in other countries. At the end of 2014 the album became the top selling album of the year with 1.4 million in sales being the Sims Billboard 200 Album of the Year. By December 2015 the album had sold 2.1 million and was Hunter's best selling album to date, however of all best selling albums Happy Birthday has sold less than any other as sales were at an all time low in 2014. In January 2017, Happy Birthday had sold 2.9 million in sales being surpassed as Hunter's best selling album by 2016's Head In The Clouds.